My party trick is labne with sizzled scallions (basically an elevated sour cream and onion dip) from Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman. It’s so simple, but everyone loves it. I read this cookbook cover to cover. The writing is just as good as the recipes are!
I actually really want to read the Lasagna book now! Beautiful lasagna! I haven’t read a cookbook in awhile, but I have a few lovely tantalizing ones in my kitchen so maybe I should crack them open in 2026 and soothe my soul a bit.
But I wanted to share my party trick recipe: the NYT plum torte recipe, which you can do with any fruit, any time of year, and which is almost impossible to screw up:
True story: I made it in Amsterdam, for a friend’s dinner party, with the wrong shaped pan and strangely less reactive Dutch baking powder and put chopped slightly caramelized pineapple on the bottom not the top and slightly converted metric everything else and it came out GREAT. (We flipped it out of the pan and it was pineapple upside down torte) The recipe is impossible to screw up!
My party trick is Nigella Lawson’s Clementine Cake. It is ridiculously easy, tastes good for days (if it lasts that long), and gets bonus points for being gluten free.
Ooooh, fun topic!!! 🤗🤗 Buck, Buck, Moose for anyone cooking with game meat. Tops. And the Lucky Peach 101 Asian cookbook is 1000% loaded with party tricks that are easy and delish! My main go-to is the "economy noodles" with lots of optional toppings. But if I have to do something fast, it's always meatballs cooked at 425 on convection in the toaster oven for 6-8 min. So fast, easy, and still they delight.
Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen lentils with goat cheese. I took them to my book club’s potluck and the bookstore owner wrote to me the next day inquiring of their origin. You can switch the goat cheese for cream cheese. They taste harder than they look, which is always a bonus.
It’s not a cookbook but Mel’s Kitchen Cafe website/blog is full of winners for people who do not consider themselves cooks. I have about 100 printed, stained pages of proof.
I learned to cook by using a very basic cookbook called Six Ingredients or Less by Carlean Johnson. Super simple recipes that help novice cooks get comfortable in the kitchen.
My favorite cookbook, really just because it is fun, is a literary holiday feasts (I don’t have the precise title in front of me at the moment) cookbook. It’s just so fun and atmospheric! Meals based on the 100 Acre Woods, the Nutcracker, Little Women, A Christmas Carol, etc.
Vegetarian Comfort Food by Jennifer Warren. I found this on a bookstore clearance table about 20 years ago and have been making my party trick Macaroni and Cheese from it ever since. It also has my one party trick baked item: Blondies.
Snacks for Dinner by Lucas Volger has my secret weapon confit beans in it—everybody loves them. But my new favorite party trick is the McCaviar from the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook. It’s basically hash browns with crème fraîche and roe. Served them at our most recent holiday party and they were an enormous hit!
This cookery book is great “Kapusta vegetable-forward recipes from Eastern Europe” by Alissa Timoshka. Excited about the mini 1000 words in January as im doing an MA in Creative Writing now and need 5,000 words by mid Jan :)
Your lasagna looks so good!! I'll shout-out YOU GOTTA EAT by Margaret Eby. It came out last year and has saved me. It's a practical book about to feed yourself based on your time and energy. It's also a heartfelt book about depression and eating even when you don't feel like it.
What a beautiful lasagna! I never thought of having extra sauce, so I'm stealing that from you. My party trick is focaccia with rosemary. It's a simpler version that doesn't require kneading. I might need sauce for that, too
My party trick is labne with sizzled scallions (basically an elevated sour cream and onion dip) from Nothing Fancy by Alison Roman. It’s so simple, but everyone loves it. I read this cookbook cover to cover. The writing is just as good as the recipes are!
I actually really want to read the Lasagna book now! Beautiful lasagna! I haven’t read a cookbook in awhile, but I have a few lovely tantalizing ones in my kitchen so maybe I should crack them open in 2026 and soothe my soul a bit.
But I wanted to share my party trick recipe: the NYT plum torte recipe, which you can do with any fruit, any time of year, and which is almost impossible to screw up:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/3783-original-plum-torte?unlocked_article_code=1.A1A.Wxxz.S1_27ijcbJsm&smid=share-url
True story: I made it in Amsterdam, for a friend’s dinner party, with the wrong shaped pan and strangely less reactive Dutch baking powder and put chopped slightly caramelized pineapple on the bottom not the top and slightly converted metric everything else and it came out GREAT. (We flipped it out of the pan and it was pineapple upside down torte) The recipe is impossible to screw up!
Happy Holidays!
My party trick is Nigella Lawson’s Clementine Cake. It is ridiculously easy, tastes good for days (if it lasts that long), and gets bonus points for being gluten free.
Ooooh, fun topic!!! 🤗🤗 Buck, Buck, Moose for anyone cooking with game meat. Tops. And the Lucky Peach 101 Asian cookbook is 1000% loaded with party tricks that are easy and delish! My main go-to is the "economy noodles" with lots of optional toppings. But if I have to do something fast, it's always meatballs cooked at 425 on convection in the toaster oven for 6-8 min. So fast, easy, and still they delight.
Also just 🙌 for having a go-to thing you bring. 🏆
Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen lentils with goat cheese. I took them to my book club’s potluck and the bookstore owner wrote to me the next day inquiring of their origin. You can switch the goat cheese for cream cheese. They taste harder than they look, which is always a bonus.
It’s not a cookbook but Mel’s Kitchen Cafe website/blog is full of winners for people who do not consider themselves cooks. I have about 100 printed, stained pages of proof.
I learned to cook by using a very basic cookbook called Six Ingredients or Less by Carlean Johnson. Super simple recipes that help novice cooks get comfortable in the kitchen.
And your lasagna looks amazing!! 👏🏻❤️
My favorite cookbook, really just because it is fun, is a literary holiday feasts (I don’t have the precise title in front of me at the moment) cookbook. It’s just so fun and atmospheric! Meals based on the 100 Acre Woods, the Nutcracker, Little Women, A Christmas Carol, etc.
Vegetarian Comfort Food by Jennifer Warren. I found this on a bookstore clearance table about 20 years ago and have been making my party trick Macaroni and Cheese from it ever since. It also has my one party trick baked item: Blondies.
Snacks for Dinner by Lucas Volger has my secret weapon confit beans in it—everybody loves them. But my new favorite party trick is the McCaviar from the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook. It’s basically hash browns with crème fraîche and roe. Served them at our most recent holiday party and they were an enormous hit!
This cookery book is great “Kapusta vegetable-forward recipes from Eastern Europe” by Alissa Timoshka. Excited about the mini 1000 words in January as im doing an MA in Creative Writing now and need 5,000 words by mid Jan :)
That used to be me, and then I learnt how to make pies 😂
Your lasagna looks so good!! I'll shout-out YOU GOTTA EAT by Margaret Eby. It came out last year and has saved me. It's a practical book about to feed yourself based on your time and energy. It's also a heartfelt book about depression and eating even when you don't feel like it.
Ohh that sounds so good!
What a beautiful lasagna! I never thought of having extra sauce, so I'm stealing that from you. My party trick is focaccia with rosemary. It's a simpler version that doesn't require kneading. I might need sauce for that, too
I’ve been going back to The Not-strictly Vegetarian Cookbook for many years, plus anything by Ina Garten.
Happy New Year 🎈
Now desperately craving lasagna